Pipe cleaning machine



Dec. 29, 1964 M. AGOSTINO 3,162,878

PIPE CLEANING MACHINE Filed OCT. 10, 1965 22 44 I NVENTOR. 40 W Ml L AGOSTINO 54 WM ATTORNEY 3,162,878 PIPE QLEG MACHINE Michael Agostino, 711 Magenta St, Bronx, NY.

Filed Oct. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 315,153

6 Claims. (Cl. its-104.3

This is a continuation-in-part of patent application Serial Number 25 8,670, filed February 12, 1963, and now abandoned.

This invention relates to power-driven pipe and tube cleaning machines, and more particularly to machines of this type employing rotatable cleaning and cutting tools which are adapted to be inserted and carried into a pipe to be cleaned such as a drain or sewer pipe by means of a flexible steel cable.

in power machinery for cleaning pipes such as drain lines and sewer lines, it is one of the most important requirements that the machine be as easily portable as possible because the clean-out openings to which the machine must be taken and used are often in locations which are almost inaccessible. Furthermore, it is obviously advantageous to have a machine of this kind which can be easily and efficiently handled by just one man so that it is not necessary to pay for the time of more than one man on the cleaning job. For these reasons, it is most important that both the weight and the bulk of the pipe cleaning machine should be kept at a minimum. Accordingly, numerous efforts have been made to produce a small and light-weight power-driven pipe cleaning machine. However such attempts have generally been met with only limited success because the weight and bulk of the machines have not been sufficiently reduced, or if they were suificiently reduced, then the machine was extremely limited in its capabilities for accomplishing the cleaning job.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide an improved pipe cleaning machine which is particularly characterized by a high degree of cleaning capability coupled with the advantages of extremely limited weight and bulk.

- Another object of the invention is to produce an improved pipe cleaning machine which is capable of being introduced into very confined spaces.

Prior pipe cleaning machines have often been characterized by expensive features of construction which have added to the weight and bulk of the machine and which were thought to be necessary parts of any pipe cleaning machine. It has now been discovered that many of these features are actually unnecessary.

Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide an improved pipe cleaning machine which is inexpensive and which is simplified in construction by the omission of some construction features which have previously been thought to be necessary.

Another problem in prior pipe cleaning machines of the power-driven drum type has been that some of the structure which has been thought to be essential has been discovered by the present inventor to be not only non-essential, but to be a source of operating difficulties. For instance, most present drum-type drain cleaning machines employing flexible cleaning cables presently employ a rotatable coil distributor within the cable drum, but such distributors are often a source of difficulty because they are likely to jam on the cable or'to encounter rotatable bearing difficulties. It is one of the features and objects of the present invention to provide a simplified structure which is very trouble-free in operation by reason of the fact that certain features of construction have either been eliminated or replaced by simplified and more troublefree structures.

In carrying out the above objects and in realizing the advantages of this invention in one preferred embodiment thereof there may be provided a pipe cleaning machine including a rotatable drum having a hollow hub member extending into one axial end of the drum along the axis thereof. A carriage is provided having an outwardly extending supporting shaft arranged for insertion into the hub member to provide a single bearing for the drum. The drum is arranged for the storage of a resilient cleaning cable in coils therein. The drum includes a nipple member mounted to define a cable opening in the axial end opposite to the hub member and arranged to have the end of the cable threaded therethrough directly from the cable coil. A motor is mounted on the carriage in alignment with the outer surface of the drum, and a pulley I is mounted on the shaft of the motor and arranged to receive a belt extending around the drum for rotation thereof. I

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be appreciated from the following description and the accompanying drawings which are as follows:

FIGURE 1 is a side View, partially in section, showing the carriage and drum of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a disassembled condition and illustrating a convenient method of assembly.

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG- URE 1 after complete assembly.

And FIGURE 3 is a side view of the completely assembled machine in the horizontal position and ready for operation.

Referring more particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, there is shown a hollow cable drum it) within which there is a coiled spring cable 12, the end of which is threaded through a nipple 14 and terminated with a cleaning tool 16. A carriage i8 is provided for the drum. and includes a drum supporting shaft 24 and a drive motor 22. After assembly of the drum it) upon the shaft 26 of the carriage 18, a V belt is assembled over a pulley 24 of the motor 22 and around the periphery of the drum it). This V belt is shown in FIG. 2 at 26. The machine is always in the horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3 when it is actually in operation.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the drum it is provided with a central hub member 28 which extends into the interior of the drum from the axial end of the drum opposite to nipple 1d and which serves as a bearing for the drum upon the shaft 20. The inner end of the hub member 28 is terminated in a circular plate member 3i) having an outer diameter somewhat greater than the outer diameter of the remainder of the hub 23. Plate member 30 serves to spread the spring cable to the coils at the inner diameter of the drum and to avoid kinking of the spring cable as it is introduced into the drum by pushing it through the nipple 14. At the outer end of the hub member 28 there is provided a thrust-bearing member 32 which may be simply a large steel washer tack-welded to the outer drum surface and in alignment with the central opening of the hub 28. A similar thrust-bearing member 34 is preferably provided on the shaft 2d of the carriage 18. The hub 28 provides a simple sleeve-bearing for drum 10 upon the shaft 2d.

The end of the drum It? which contains the nipple 14 preferably has a conicaal shape, as shown, and is preferably provided with openings 36 which not only reduce the Weight of the drum but permit observation and manipulation of the cable within the drum. The coils of the cable 12 are normally held on the inner drum surface simply by means of the friction on that surface resulting from the natural opening forces of the spring cable 12.

The c rriage 18 is provided with a pair of wheels 38 which are positioned so as to provide good balance of the combined carriage and drum for maneuvering the machine up and down Stairways as well as over level and inclined floors and other surfaces. The drum 1b and the carriage 18 are both preferably fabricated as one-piece Welded structures. The frame-members of the carriage 18 are preferably fabricated from steel angle stock and the shaft 24 is preferably securely fastened both to the upper carriage members 4i? and the lower carriage members 42 by means of suitable cross members which are As shown in FIGURE 2, the motor 22 is securely mounted on cross frame members 46 of the carriage I8 and is electrically connected as shown at as to an electric J- inlet box 50. As shown in FIGURE 3, the box 5% is arranged to receive power from a power cord 52 which may provide power from a conventional source through a foot switch 54. v

FIGURE 3 shows the assembled drain cleaning machine of FIGURES l and 2 in the horizontal posit-ion. This is the only operating position for the machine. 'When the machine is to be operated, the cleaning tool 16 and the end of the cable to which it is attached are introduced through the pipe cleanout opening and the machine is turned on by the operator by pressing his foot on switch 54. This causes the motor 22 to rotate the drum 10 by means of the belt 26," and this rotation in,

turn causes a rotation of the flexible steel cable and of the associated cleaning tool 16. The tool 16 may be ad vanced into the pipe by manually pulling additional spring cable from the drum through the nipple 14 while the cable is rotating. It has been found that while it is necessary for the operator to handle the rotating-cable,

there is nothing about the cable which is capable of harming the operator. Furthermore, heavy work gloves may be worn as a precaution.

The operable direction of the drum, as shown in FiG- URE 2, is counter-clockwise. It is understood that FIG- URE 2 does not picture the machine in the operative position. However, it it is appreciated that FIGURE 2 can also be considered as a top View of the machine if the machine is in the horizontal position as pictured in FIGURE 3,'then this observation is a meaningful one. The counter-clockwise rotation is necessary because this is the direction which tends to cause the resulant stresses in the coils of the spring cable within the drum to be directed outwardly. These forces towards the inner surface of the drum lock the coils against the surface of the drum to provide positive driving force in responseto the rotation of the drum. If the machine is designed to rotate the drum in the opposite direction, then the spring cable may be simply stored within the drum with the opposite direction of coil rotation.

While only a single simple form of cleaning tool 16 is illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood that this cleaning tool may be easily removed and replaced when necessary. Other special purpose cleaning tools of various sizes may be easily attached in place of the cleaning tool 16 whenever this is necessary or desirable.

The switch 54 may be of conventional construction in i which the switch is springbiased to the open position. While av single pole switch is suficient, it is preferred to employ a double pole switch so that the ungrounded side of the electrical power circuit is sure to be interrupted whenever the switch is open. As a fuither precaution, a three wire circuit with a wired ground is preferably employed.

It is obvious that the structure and features of the present invention may be carried out in various dimensions and sizes. However, byway of illustration, dimensions and proportions which have been found to be very useful in a practical embodiment of this invention are as follows: a V

The outside diameter of the drum 1! is approximately twenty inches, and the total outside length of the carriage 13 is approximately thirty inches. The other dimensions of the. machine are in proportion to these dimensions according to the scale asshown in the drawings. With these dimensions, a one third horsepower high torque capacitor motor having a rated speed of approximately 1725 rpm. has been found to be very satisfactory for drive motor 20.

Even in the embodiment of the invention having dimensions as small as those given above, the machine is capable of clearing heavy stoppages in drain pipes upto 8 inches in diameter at a distance of up to 200 feet. The drum 10 itself will hold as much as feet of inch size cable. reached, cable extensions may be attached in the conventional manner. Even though the parts of this machine are fabricated from heavy gauge steel materials, the entire machine plus a length of 75 feet of inch spring cable weighs no more than pounds. This is a load which is easily moved up and down stairways and into difdcult places on the carriage wheels 38 by a man of normal size and strength working alone.

However,'one of the most important and interesting features of the invention which relates to the portability and the utility of this machine-for operation in confined spaces, and for access to'very restricted spaces, is the ease with which the drum it) :may be disassembled and separated from the carriage 18. The ease of assembly or disassembly is suggested by the illustration of FIG- URE l. The machine is designed so that the height of the carriage, at the shaft 2%, above the surface supporting a the wheels 38, when the carriage is in the vertical position, is slightly less than the radius of the drum 10. Thus, if the carriage is positioned vertically so that the shaft 20 is horizontal, or parallel to the supporting surface, and if the drum is resting on its side on that surface as illus? trated in FIGURE 1, the shaft 2% isnot quite as high as the hub 28 of the drum 10. Accordingly, in order easily to assemble the drum l0 and the carriage together, the carriage is tilted back slightly, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, so that the tip of the shaft 20 alignswith and meets the outer opening of the hub 28. Once the tip of the shaft 2t is inserted into this opening, a slight force by the'operator on the handle 44 in the direction of the 2% as a center, raising the wheels 38 slightly above the supporting surface until'the shaft 2ll aligns with the center opening of the hub 28. Then the shaft 20 slides smoothly into the hub 28. Shaft 29 is preferably kept well greased not only for ease of assembly and disassembly, but also for ease of operation of the machine.

After the machine is assembled as shown in FIGURE 2, the carriage is tilted backward in the manner conventional for two-wheeled hand trucks, the machine is moved to the place where it is to be used, and then it is placed in the horizontal position as shown in FIGURE'J. It is then that the belt-26 is assembled to the machine, and the foot switch 54 is plugged into the connection box 5%. It is understood that the belt 26 is shown in its assembled position in FIGURE 2 of the drawing only for purposes of clarity in showing the structure of the machine. Normally, the belt 26 is not assembled to the machine until the machine is placedlin the horizontal position shown in FIGURE 3. a

For disassembly of the machine, thebelt is first removed. Then the machine is placed in thevertical position as indicated in FIGURE 2, the rearmost cross brace 46 is lightly grasped and gently pulled backward while at the same timeexerting a slight lifting force. This is sulficient to retract the shaft 20 from the hub 28 and to cause thecarriage to be disassembled from the drum 10. This method of assembly and disassembly is particularly When distances greater than this must be 5 advantageous because the drum 10, when loaded with cable 12, is somewhat heavier than the carriage 18. Furthermore, the carriage 18, being provided with the wheels 38, is more easily maneuvered to the drum to get the two major parts into position for their assembly than it would be to maneuver the drum to the carriage.

The ease of assembly and disassembly of these two basic heavy parts of the machine is very important from the standpoint of the ease of portability of the machine and for obtaining access with the machine to confined spaces. This is true because the parts, when disassembled, may be more easily and flexibly stored, or more easily packed in an automobile or truck for transportation to or from the job. Also the two parts may be more easily moved separately into confined spaces such as through small cellar windows and into crawl spaces beneath basementless buildings. Furthermore, this ease of separation of the two main parts of this machine mean that each part, with its reduced weight, may be separately handled for any loading or unloading or maneuvering operations which are of an awkward nature and where lifting is difiicult or awkward with the complete machine. Furthermore, because of the design and configuration of the drum It), with its cylindrical outer surface, it is not difficult, when necessary, to move the drum alone by simply rolling it along on the supporting surface.

In most conventional machines it has been thought to be necessary to provide a second bearing for the drum which would be located in the vicinity of the nipple 14. The present invention presents a number of advantages over such a structure including the easy disassembly as just described. Furthermore, an outboard bearing in the vicinity of nipple 14 requires that the carriage must include frame structure which embraces the drum to support the outboard bearing. It is one of the interesting and valuable features of this invention that no frame structure is required which extends past the bearing end of the drum in the direction of the drum. Thus, the carriage structure is restricted to the space beneath the bearing end of the drum. This feature has a number of advantages including lower weight and lower cost for the carriage.

The belt 26 may be a conventional V belt having a trapezoidal cross-section with a flat bottom surface. Because of the fact that no V groove need be provided in the exterior of the drum 10, this belt is very easily assembled on the drum after the drum 10 and the carriage 18 are assembled together.

In FIGURE 2, the carriage 18 is shown as tilted so as to rest on the combination of one wheel 38 and the shaft 20. This unique and characteristic attitude of the machine is due to the previously mentioned characteristic that the height of the carriage from the supporting surface to the shaft 20, when the shaft 20 is horizontal to the supporting surface, is less than the radius of the drum from its outer perimeter to the center line of the hub 28.

This is the difference in dimensions which contributes greatly to the ease of assembly and disassembly of the carriage and the drum as explained above.

While only a single embodiment of the invention has been shown, it will be understood that various modifica tions will occur to those skilled in the art and it is intended that the following claims shall cover all such modifications within the valid scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a rotatable drum including a hollow hub member extending into one axial end of said drum along the axis thereof, a carriage having an outwardly extending supporting shaft arranged far insertion into said hub member to provide a single bearing for said drum, said drum being arranged for the storage of a resilient cleaning cable in coils therein, a motor mounted on said carriage in alignment with the outer surface of said drum when said drum is supported upon said shaft, a pulley mounted on the shaft of said motor and arranged to receive a belt extending around said drum for the rotation thereof, the structure of said carriage exclusive of said motor and said shaft being limited to the space beyond the axial end of said drum at said hub.

2. A machine for carrying and rotatably driving a resilient steel cable having a variable effective length comprising a drum cable container and a carriage for supporting said container for rotation thereon, said drum having a first bearing member at one axial end thereof, said carriage comprising at least two wheels and a frame and including a second bear-ing member, one of said bearing members comprising a shaft and the other one of said bearing members comprising a hollow hub for receiving said shaft and forming a sleeve bearing therewith, said bearing members being slidably disengageable and forming a single bearing support for said drum upon said carriage, the radius of said drum being greater than the height of said second bearing member on said carriage when said carriage is resting on said wheels with said second bearing member horizontally aligned.

3. A machine for cleaning pipes comprising a one piece cable drum having a first bearing member at one axial end thereof, a carriage comprising at least two wheels and a frame, said carriage including a second bearing member, one of said bearing members comprising a shaft and the other one of said bearing members comprising a hollow hub for receiving said shaft and forming a sleeve bearing therewith, said bearing members being slidably engageable and disengageable to form a single bearing support for said drum upon said carriage, the radius of said drum being greater than the height of said second bearing member on said carriage when said second bearing member is horizontally aligned, said cable drum having guide means for said cable consisting of a hollow nipple at the axial end of said drum opposite to said first bearing member, and drive means for said drum arranged for engagement with the exterior surface thereof.

4. A machine for cleaning pipes comprising a onepiece cable drum having a first bearing member at one axial end thereof, a carriage comprising at least two wheels and a frame, said carriage including a second bearing member, one of said bearing members comprising a shaft and the other one of said bearing members comprising a hollow hub for receiving said shaft and forming a sleeve bearing therewith, said bearing members being slidably engageaole and disengageable to form a single bearing support for said drum upon said carriage, the radius of said drum being greater than the height of said second bearing member on said carriage when said second bearing member is horizontally aligned, drive means for said drum arranged for engagement with the exterior surface thereof, the structure of said carriage exclusive of said second bearing member being substantially completely confined to the space beyond the axial end of said drum at said first bearing member.

5. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a rotatable cable drum having a single support bearing comprising a hollow hub member extending into one axial end of said drum along the axis thereof, a carriage having at least two wheels and including an outwardly extending supporting shaft for said drum arranged for insertion into said hub member, the radius of said drum being slightly greater than the height of the axis of said shaft when said carriage is supported on said wheels with said shaft axis horizontal, said drum including a nipple member mounted to define a cable opening in the axial end of said drum opposite to said hub member, a resilient cable stored within said drum, one end of said cable being threaded through said nipple member and being provided with a cleaning tool, an electric motor mounted on said carriage parallel to and in alignment with the outer surface of said drum, a pulley mounted on the shaft of said motor, and a belt extending from said pulley around said drum for the rotation thereof.

able cable drum having a single supporting bearing Said bearing comprising a hollow tubular hub member extending from an opening in one axial end of said drum into the interior space of said drum along said drum axis, said hub member being terminated in a circular plate centered on the end of the body of said hub member and having a diameter greater than said body of said hub member, a carriage for said drum including an out wardly extending supporting shaft for said drum arranged for insertion into said hub member, said carriage including at least one pair of wheels mounted on an axis conshaft axis to the nearest point on the axis of said wheels as measured through said plane plus the outer wheel radius, said drum including a straight hollow cylindrical nipple member axially and fixedly mounted to define a cable opening in the axial end of'said drum opposite to said hub member, a resilient spring cable coiled and stored against the inner cylindrical surface of said drum, one end of said cable being threaded through said nipple member, said threaded end of said cablebeing provided with a cleaning tool, a motor mounted on said carriage with its axis parallel to the axis of said shaft and having a pulley in alignment with the cylindrical outer surface References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,424,413 7/47 Nelson 15-1043 3,048,870 8/62 Criscuolo 15-4043 3,095,592 7/63 Hunt .4 15104.3

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PIPE CLEANING MACHINE COMPRISING A ROTATABLE DRUM INCLUDING A HOLLOW HUB MEMBER EXTENDING INTO ONE AXIAL END OF SAID DRUM ALONG THE AXIS THEREOF, A CARRIAGE HAVING AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING SUPPORTING SHAFT ARRANGED FOR INSERTION INTO SAID HUB MEMBER TO PROVIDE A SINGLE BEARING FOR SAID DRUM, SAID DRUM BEING ARRANGED FOR THE STORAGE OF A RESILIENT CLEANING CABLE IN COILS THEREIN, A MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID DRUM WHEN SAID DRUM IS SUPPORTED UPON SAID SHAFT, A PULLEY MOUNTED ON THE SHAFT OF SAID MOTOR AND ARRANGED TO RECEIVE A BELT EXTENDING AROUND SAID DRUM FOR THE ROTATION THEREOF, THE STRUCTURE OF SAID CARRIAGE EXCLUSIVE OF SAID MOTOR AND SAID SHAFT BEING LIMITED TO THE SPACE BEYOND THE AXIAL END OF SAID DRUM AT SAID HUB. 